Alfred napier ford



UNITED STATE-s PALNT Orr renal ALFRED NAPIER FORD, OF LONDON, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO CHARLES JAMES GRIST, OF SAME PLACE.

ART OF MAKING OIL FABRICS.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 574,793, dated January 5, 1897.

Application filed June 11, 1894. Serial No. 514,249. (No specimens.) Patented in England May 12, 1890,11'0. 7,354.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, ALFRED NAPIER FORD, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Art of Making Oil Fabrics; and 1 do declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improved art, method, or process for the manufacture of table and floor coverings, carriage-linings, and other like articles, as hereinafter described.

In practicing the invention I take linseedoil or other dry oil, but preferably linseedoil, and when it is desired to hasten its drying properties it is subjected to a temperature of 350 Fahrenheit or thereabout for ten hours, more or less, and if discoloration is of importance care should be taken that it never reaches the boiling-point or a temperature Which discolors and injures the oil. The oil is then combined with one or more siccatives in such proportions as, having regard to the desired result, are best calculated to endow it with rapidly-drying properties.

In the oil so prepared I repeatedly immerse fibers or finely-divided stringy or disorganized particles of wool, flax, hemp, jute, cotton, silk, worsted, or other fibrous substances, taking care that the fibers be fairly loose and not woven, because in that case they would present a closed surface, as in manufactured cotton goods, muslin, or the like.

After each immersion the mass of fibers under treatment is lifted from the receptacle containing the oil and allowed to drain until the surplus oil has run into said receptacle. The fibers then, with the minute particles or drops of oil adhering, are loosely spread on shelves composed of wires or wire-gauze, so that the drops of oil Which adhere to each fiber can be thoroughly oxidized by the action of the air on the whole of its surface. In some cases I expedite the process by fans to circulate hot air quickly through the fibers.

When the fibers are thoroughly dry aft-er the first immersion, I again immerse them in the oil, and repeat the above treatment until the mass of fibers is thoroughly saturated and the individual fibers coated with oil.

It is found after one immersion of the fibers and the drying thereof, whereby the minute particles of oxidized oil become localized or fixed,that during the next treatment the fresh particles of oil locate themselves on parts of the fibers between the previous drops or particles, and it is this property that I utilize to present the greatest possible surface area of the oil for the air to act upon. I then grind up the said disorganized oil-coated fibers until the composition assumes a plastic and homogeneous condition, in which state I roll it by means of ordinary spreading-rolls, heated or otherwise, traveling preferably at a very slow speed, onto the surface of textile fabrics of woolen, flax, hemp, cotton, silk, or any other fabric which shall be deemedsu'itable to receive it. Other equivalent means of applying the prepared plastic material to the surface required to be coated may be employed.

A great advantage which this method of manufacturing has over extant methods of manufacturing table and floor coverings, carriage-linings, and other like articles consists, first, in the use for coating of a perfectly flexible material which will not crack and which gives a softer and better surface than is produced by the methods in ordinary use, and, second, in the great saving of time and labor effected by accomplishingin one process what has hitherto required many processes and a long time to mature them.

By means of my improved process the articles are made fit for use and, if need be, for exportation to hot or cold climates within a few days of their being finished, as the substance employed in their manufacture is not liable to be affected materially by heat or cold. Moreover, since the oil employed in the manufactured articles is perfectly oxidized, said articles are not injuriously affected by long-continued exposure to the atmosphere.

I am aware of the patent issued to WValton August 4, 1874, for the manufacture of oxidized oil, in which a sheet of Woven cloth is dipped into the oil, raised therefrom, and dried, the operation being continued until the said sheet of cloth is coated with oil to the desired extent, the cloth, with the accumulated oil, being subsequently ground up together. By this process of \Valtoms the oil was not thoroughly oxidized, by reason of the fact, among others, that the oil sinking into the meshes of woven fabric was concealed to such an extent that the air could not reach it sufficiently to produce perfect oxidation. The result was that when a fabric was manufactured by the use of this oil the previously-uuoxidized particles of oil would be attacked by the air and eaten away, as it were, whereby the garment was soon rendered useless for the purpose intended. Ilence I claim nothing on the said Valton process.

On the contrary, experience has proven, after a most thorough test, that the oil is perfectly oxidized by my process and that garments made therefrom are not attacked by the air or injured by exposure thereto.

Having thus described myinven tion, what I claim is- The improvement in the art of making oil fabrics consisting in loosely separating fibers or finely-divided particles of wool, flax, hemp, jute, cotton, silk, &c., repeatedly immersing the same in boiling oil so as to coat the separated fibers, in thoroughly oxidizing the oil adhering to the fibers after each immersion by subjecting the coated fibers to the action of air, the fibers being maintained in their loosely-separated condition during the steps of coating and oxidizing, and in grinding the coated fibers after oxidation to form a homogeneous mass, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED NAPIER FORD.

\Vitnesses:

THoMAs II. LEES, PERCY A. MORGAN. 

